Religious leaders, particular persons preaching religious values use social media to communicate with the audience. How to identify those ‘digital preachers’ who aim for destruction?
Destructive religious influence may put both personal and national security at risk.
“’Destruction’ in terms of religion means actions that are aimed to destroy a personality, family, society and, eventually, the state,” said Yulia Denisenko, expert in countering extremism and terrorism in Kazakhstan.
The problem is, according to the speaker, that destructive preachers are aware of this definition and use manipulative methods under the guise of kind and compassionate people.
Here are the red flags, i.e. the signs that must not be ignored, to watch out for in order to identify destructive persons:
- If a person conceals their real name and location.
- If you are asked to join a private group and not to share your passwords.
- If the preacher’s speech is full of terms that are new and unknown to you.
- If they assign a supervisor to you immediately.
- If they promise you that your dreams would come true, you would be left with nothing eventually.
“If you see the above-mentioned red flags, you’d better reject even most tempting offers,” Denisenko said.
According to the expert, the driving force of destructive organisations is their members, especially newcomers. Why do they count on inexperienced persons?
“While a person explains the newcomer the point of the ‘offer’, he/she starts to believe in it oneself,” Yulia Denisenko said.
Moreover, good recruiters explore all the information about a potential victim available on the internet. Based on the ‘record’, they give that person, for example, simple answers to complex questions, support, work, knowledge, even a wife or a husband.
There are two aspects regarding the things (topics, promises) that would be used to involve newcomers. The first one is the scope of activity of the organisation, it can be commercial, political, spiritual, psychological. The second one is vulnerabilities of a potential newcomer.
“In commercial organisations, they would naturally offer to increase profits, train the staff. In psychological cults, they pretend to treat the person and ‘mend’ his/her head by making him/her to give them the shirt off his/her back. In political organisations, among which are terroristic organisations, their rhetoric would be aimed at the problems in the society, political system, and so on,” Denisenko said.
If a person makes a step forward, they begin to treat him/her aggressively.
“They use the sleep deprivation manipulation (when people are not allowed to sleep – Editor’s note),” the expert said. “They explain it by the fact that the ‘guru’ can speak only at night. The person, out of gratitude, would do one’s best to fulfil the conditions of the person who did him/her a favour a day before.”
Supporting destructive preacher in the virtual environment may have far-reaching consequences and have a serious impact on the life of supporters.
Money is the least, according to Denisenko, that could be lost by the person who follow the destructive preacher. The frequent cases are prison sentences for distribution of extremist information, disability and even death.
Gulmira Birzhanova, lawyer of the public foundation ‘Legal Media Centre’ and head of the legal service ‘Media Qoldau’, said that preaching of destructive ideas is not equal to the freedom of religion and conscience.
“One of the restrictions is set forth in the Constitution of Kazakhstan: ‘No propaganda and advocacy of social, ethnic, religious, estate, and ancestral supremacy is allowed,” the lawyer cited.
The Criminal Code contains 11 articles regarding extremist crimes, as well as article 174 “Incitement of social, ethnic, hereditary, racial, estate or religious hatred”. In Kazakhstan, those people who violate the law on religious activity and religious associations may be subjected to administrative penalty.
If you or your relatives have encountered destructive religious movements, the experts advise you to contact the urban Centre for the Study of Religions via the call centre 109. Religious scholars, psychologists, representatives of the clergy and other specialists will render assistance to you.
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